Big A HG

Go buy a stuffed gopher or buffalo and some rope! Most Wal-Marts are open 24 hours.

Sioux fans aren't going to convert to Bison fans just because they can save an hours worth of driving each way. There are hockey fans that don't cheer for a particular team, but not enough to fill an arena. Yes, there would be Bison hockey fans. Yes, there are people that would check out the Bison play hockey. But, the people in the area aren't accepting enough of the idea to give enough reason to form a hockey team. It'll take too much money and there's too much risk. If there was a big movement from fans and locals alike saying they want a hockey team in the worst way, NDSU would have had one a long time ago. But most Fargo residents are too cool to give notion to the idea of having a hockey team at NDSU.

That's a devilish thing to say...

It's the best of both worlds! Gophers lose and Sioux win!

I was implying a stuffed gopher...not a real one...although a real one would have been a bonus.

It really depends on the capabilities of the arena they are broadcasting an event. Twins and Wild games are in HD on FSN because they have HD cameras...but the Mariucci doesn't have these cameras so they aren't shown in that. I believe FSN-RM brought their own HD cameras (can anyone confirm this). The one that was by me both games was not an REA camera and on the side of the camera it said "HD" on it. It'd be nice to have FSSN go HD, but it'd be so expensive. I heard HD cameras are ridiculous in price.

Yeah, and based on everything else I've read from you, you don't know much about anything.

I'm still trying to find reasonable tickets...

I don't think a Big Ten conference automatically equals greats recruits coming in. You'll get a few better guys, but as a whole, I don't think it's as significant as you think, especially in the case of PSU. There are so many intangibles behind the scenes that players consider I'm sure, and we have no idea about them. Also, with a small conference, you'd have to play each team more often, and I don't think that's a good strategy because fans can have an excuse to not go thinking "I'll catch 'em when they're in town the next time." I don't think Michigan's, Minnesota's, or Wisconsin's recruiting will change at all. If MSU can't get decent recruits now, I think it will still be difficult with a Big Ten conference....same with OSU...and for sure with PSU. If it was so easy and such a for sure thing that all the stuff you mentioned would happen, it would have been done already.

Darcy isn't here to score, and if he does it's a plus. He's a grinder that's going to shut down some of the better players on opposing teams. He's a role player, and without players like Darcy, we wouldn't be as successful as we have been. Look at a team like Minnesota that stacks their talent but has no chemistry or role-players...that's what you'll get.

I put Darcy on the list since he's a junior and will be gone after next year for sure. I mentioned the fact they can leave because VandeVelde could bolt, and a slim chance of Genoway. Darcy will be here next year for sure unless something absolutely strange happens, which isn't going to happen. Basically just look at the list of seniors and juniors.

Is it just me, or does it seem like Davidson has capitalized on most of his opportunities he's been given. Maybe Toews is banged up a little bit as well and they're just calling it a week off for him. He has 2 goals in 8 games, which doesn't overwhelm you, but the guy is a hard worker on the ice every time and plays sound defense. I think this is a great weekend to use a player who is going to leave it all on the ice when 2 wins are a must.

What if this Rodwell kid pulled a Kevin Hart and the coaching staff has never even heard of him...

I think looking at a school like Penn State, a good comparison would be a team like Ohio State. OSU has been around a while, and is a huge, national recognized University, but they still don't have that niche in hockey. Michigan as a state is a storied hockey region, something that Ohio and Pennsylvania don't have. PSU, after ten years of hockey, would be no farther along than a school like Ohio State, unless something of a small miracle happened.

Wouldn't we rather have Olsen than Gleason? No offense to Gleason, but Olsen is as highly touted as you can pretty much get by the sounds of it. The only downside is, we might only have Olsen 2, maybe 3 years versus Gleason 3-4 for sure.

We do have a good amount of seniors leaving. Joe Finley Zach Jones Ryan Martens Andrew Kozek Brad Miller Ryan Duncan Matt Watkins Aaron Walski Next years seniors will be (assuming they don't leave early, which is a chance too). Chay Genoway Darcy Zajac Chris VandeVelde That's 11 players right there. Who knows if a player like Gregoire or Frattin will leave early as well.

Like I said, it was a mix of recruits. Didn't Matt absolutely tear it up there? It took him a full season to get rolling, and has still been inconsistent. So, assuming the top players are similar to Matt, and the second-tier players are just that, what are we gaining?

That's true, and I'm not saying these guys aren't going to be good, but what happens if the league as a whole is overrated, and we totally flop because we have so many of these AJHL recruits. The best players are spread from coast to coast. It's not possible to get them all, or even feasible to try, but we've had a good mix of players from all leagues the previous years, and despite not winning the title, we've gotten awfully close. I'd just hate to get watered down in a league where we're not recruiting against many other schools.

I heard he goes both ways on the power play and is second on the team in PP goals

I like the idea of a Badger, but some might not distinguish that from hockey. Badgers are my team in everything but hockey. So, let's keep it simple and stick to a Gopher...

This whole AJHL is going to make or break the Sioux in the coming years. If these aren't as good as the coaches think as a whole, we could be hurting seriously. It'd be nice to bring in a wider variety to see where each league is standing. We will see!

Hang a Gopher on a rope...you'd be a Sioux legend

Don't forget Denver. Even with Notre Dame not in the Big Ten, I can see a Big Ten conference formed with 6 teams. I think those schools would rather play less teams of greater stature than 11 other teams, half of which are no-name universities.

Well that's not good news...